Rafu Shimpo: Asian American Leaders Speak Out on Charleston Massacre

 
The Japanese American Citizens League, OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and Asian Americans Advancing Justice LA all spoke out about the racist nature of the mass killing at an historic black church in Charleston, reports Rafu Shimpo .
 
“The horrific circumstances are shocking,” said Jeffrey Moy, JACL’s vice president for public affairs. “Entering a church to commit grievous harm is unconscionable and it is especially heinous when race is a factor.”
 
Comparisons have been made to the 2012 tragedy in Oak Creek, Wisconsin when Wade Michael Page entered a Sikh temple and fatally shot and killed six people.
 
“The Asian American and Pacific Islander community shares the pain of the black community in Charleston, as we have also experienced killings motivated by hate, including the murder of Vincent Chin almost 33 years ago today by Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz,” said Michael W. Kwan, national president of OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates. “He, like the victims of this murderous rampage, had done nothing wrong except to be of a certain color and therefore a target in the mind of a racist killer. Make no mistake, this slaughter of innocents is an act of domestic terrorism designed to instill fear in communities of color and advance a white supremacist political agenda.”
 
Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles also called the killings in Charleston an act of domestic terrorism. “We condemn this as an act of domestic terrorism against the African American community and we support the law enforcement investigations into these attacks as racially motivated hate crimes,” the group said in a statement.
 
Rep Judy Chu (D-CA) said society must not let the killer create a climate of fear.
 
“We must begin by making clear that the hate which motivated the shooter has no place in our society. Hate crimes are intended to create fear, which is why we must respond with courage. I stand with the community, whose unity rings louder than this hateful act, and I am committed to working towards a safer country where houses of worship for all faiths are places of peace and welcome.”
 
You can hear what the victim’s relatives are saying to the suspect Dylann Roof and their willingness to forgive him in the clip below from ABC News.
 

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